Vestcor Inc Sells 10,759 Shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Vestcor Inc lessened its stake in shares of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 236,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,759 shares during the period. Consolidated Edison accounts for approximately 0.7% of Vestcor Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Vestcor Inc owned 0.07% of Consolidated Edison worth $21,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ED. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 66.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ED. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Consolidated Edison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ED opened at $102.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $35.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.11. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a one year low of $87.16 and a one year high of $107.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 8.62%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Consolidated Edison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.89%.

Consolidated Edison Profile

Consolidated Edison, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States. It offers electric services to approximately 3.7 million customers in New York City and Westchester County; gas to approximately 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Westchester County; and steam to approximately 1,530 customers in parts of Manhattan.